A Different Approach
by zorrel
Summary: L is dead, Kira is still killing, and there are three young men all after the same thing. Alternate Universe/Ending


**A Different Approach**

_December 5__th__, 2004_

Mihael Keehl stormed into the room he was sharing with his best friend and immediately went to the closet. The red head was sprawled on his bed playing a game, goggles hanging around his neck, so he did not notice him at first. Only when the blonde threw open the closet door and tore a suitcase out did he look up. His blue eyes slowly lifted from the LSD screen of his video game to his chocolate-addicted friend, and he quirked an eyebrow. The black-clad blonde was throwing clothes and possessions into the bag like tomorrow was not coming, a seriously agitated expression on his face. Mail Jeevas sat up on his bed and kept his quizzical gaze on his friend.

"Mello—" At Wammy's House, all the children attending had code names. "—what the hell are you doin'?" The red head asked suspiciously. Mello did not speak for a moment, but rather continued to throw boxes upon boxes of chocolate into the suitcase. Suddenly, he turned his back on his friend, and a strangled noise left his throat. Mail recognised that noise all too well. He got up off his bed and closed the space between himself and the older boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. Very quietly, the red head uttered the other boy's real name.

"L's dead!" Mello barked, spinning on his heel. His dark eyes were rimmed with tears. "He promised he would catch Kira, and now he's dead! He's **dead**, Matt!" The 15-year-old's hard expression broke, and he sat down on his bed. He covered his face with his hands and stifled the angry sob that was trying to escape him. Matt bit down on his lip and slowly fell to his knees, eyes wide. L was dead. He reached up and put his hand back on his friend's shoulder. He did not have any words; the red head knew how much Mihael had loved L, and seeing him like this tugged on his heart.

"What are you gonna do?" The 14-year-old asked after a moment. The blonde sniffed loudly and rubbed vigorously at his eyes in an attempt to rid himself of the tears. He slowly got up, Matt following suit, and began to organise his suitcase.

"I'm leaving," He said in a shaky voice. He glanced over at his best friend, who was wearing an expression that resembled an abandoned puppy's. He closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "I'm going to catch Kira." He turned around to face the red head, eyes open and serious. "And I want you to come with me, Matt." The red head's expression changed—for better or for worse Mihael was not sure; his eyebrows rose, but stayed knit together, and there was a certain something the blonde could not pin point in his bright blue eyes. He was neither smiling nor frowning.

"I'll come," He said after a moment. "Even if it means dyin', I _will_ come with you." Those words hung in the air as the two friends stared each other down. Suddenly, Matt turned around and ran over to the closet, grabbing a suitcase and beginning to put his own possessions in it just as erratically as Mello had when he first stormed in here. He threw in clothes, games, hand held consoles, notebooks, his CD player, everything that was in reach. When he was done, he turned to his best friend, breath a little short, and grinned. "Done." Mello stared at him and smiled softly, shaking his head.

"You're something else, Mail," He muttered, closing his suitcase and slinging it over his shoulder. Mail's grinned stretched further and he fastened his goggles around his eyes, pulling his suitcase on to the ground. The two looked at each other, locking eyes, then broke it a second later by scanning the room. This would be the last time these two would see this room—they were never coming back. The blonde strode to the door with Matt on his tail, and together they stormed down the halls together. They came to the front room with those large double oak doors that still sat in the back of Mello's mind, and Matt slowly dragged open the door on the left.

"Mello! Where—" The voice broke off when the two boys turned around to face her. Linda stood there, her bright eyes wide and her lips pulled down into a frown. The young girl had paint stains on her hands and face and her clothes, indicating she had been doing her past time before someone had told her to come downstairs to see the two off. She took a wary step forward, her eyes softening. "Are you going?" Mello's dark eyes softened, too. Matt smiled slightly.

"I'll wait outside," He said and skittered outside, closing the doors behind him. Mello stood still for a moment, shifting the bag on his shoulder a little. Finally, he looked up to Linda, whose frown was getting sadder and sadder. The blonde suddenly came forward and dropped his bag, wrapping his arms tightly around the young girl. She closed her eyes and gently wrapped her thin arms around the boy.

"I'll miss you, Mello," She whispered. Mihael stepped away from her, his face a hard mask. He nodded slowly, then picked his bag back up. He took out a chocolate bar and unwrapped it, turning his back to the girl. "I-I really will." The blonde grit his teeth. She was making this harder on him—he did not want to see Linda sad. This is what he had to do, though. He needed to go and he _needed_ to catch Kira.

"Good bye," Was what he said before he flung open the door, stepped out, and slammed the door behind him. Matt was waiting, buying cigarettes from one of the older kids who had not left for reasons unknown. He perked up when his blonde friend appeared, and he did not question him. Instead, he handed the money to the boy and snatched the cigarettes, following Mello like an obedient puppy.

"Take a good look, Mail," The blonde said as they got out through the gate, peering at the large building. Mail turned around and looked at the building, too. "This might be the very last time you see this dump." The red head nodded slowly.

"How are we gonna get to Japan?" He asked quietly.

"We're not going to Japan."

"But L—"

"We're going to America."

...

_March 5__th__, 2009_

Nate River stood, ignoring the pain in his legs, in front of a desk. Not just any desk, either, it was the desk of the president of the United States of America. Steve Mason, the director of the FBI, stood by the young paraplegic man, relaying the information he wanted to give to the president.

"The L that exists currently was merely fabricated by the Japanese police, Mr. President. The real L is dead. The murder device that Kira uses is a notebook of death." The president stared in shock, first at the white haired boy and then at the large round man speaking to him. He shook his head, looking quickly down at his desk.

"A notebook…"

"Yes. Isn't that right, Near?" The paraplegic boy slowly raised his arm, beginning to curl a lock of his messy hair around his finger. He stepped forward, voice and expression void of any emotion.

"Correct," He began. He grabbed a chair idly and sat in it to rest his legs, pulling one up beside him and leaving the other dangling. "On October 28th, 2004, L announced to the Japanese police that he _'located a Kira suspect and to not approach a red Porsche.'_ Approximately 40 minutes after this, Kyosuke Higuchi was surrounded by police and captured. However, he dies on the scene," A slight waver came to Nate's voice. He paused. "It is clear he had the powers to kill people."

"And you're saying that power is a _murder notebook?" _The president asked incredulously. Near slowly nodded.

"Correct," The 18-year-old began again. "It is definitely a notebook. If you write a person's name in it, they will be killed. At the time of arrest, an officer in the vicinity heard Higuchi talk about a _'notebook that kills whoever's name you write into it if you know what they look like.'_" Near faltered again, rearranging his expression to slightly puzzled one. "An object resembling a notebook was then taken from Higuchi's car to a helicopter. Then the helicopter left."

"What are you saying, Near?" The president quirked a brow when he asked this. This young man who was suddenly in his office explaining something so utterly impossible was almost a little intimidating. Near shot him a sharp look.

"With L gone, the notebook resides with the Japanese police." At this, Director Mason spoke up.

"Near has been able to collect this much evidence all by himself without any preexisting data," He sounded like a teacher or parent praising a young child. For this, Near also shot him a sharp look. "You should realise this is the truth from the materials I already sent you." The president stayed silent for a long while, eyes darting back and forth between Mason and Nate. Then, he sighed and laced his fingers together with his elbows on his desk, resting his chin on his fingers.

"Who is he exactly, Director Mason?" He finally questioned.

"Well," Mason gave the white-clad boy a slight glance. "Let's just say he's the true successor of L."

* * *

Author's note: Wah! So here I am with a new chapter fic! This time it's Death Note!

Upon re-reading the second half of Death Note (starting in v.7), I have realised I don't really like how it plays along! I don't like Near's cheating ways, even though it's apart of his…oh so loveable character. I dislike Matt's short screen time, and I also don't like that he and Mello die. As a huge Light fan, too, I'm upset at the ending. As I got to v.12, I couldn't help myself when I started **bawling** at Mello's line when he sees Matt's death. (For those of you that don't remember: _'Matt…I never thought you'd be killed. Forgive me…'_) So this morning…I started to rewrite the second part of Death Note, starting from Mello leaving the orphanage.

Things are going to play out a lot differently, hu hu, so if you were unsatisfied like me, or you just like a good alternate ending fic, stick around! I'll try and do the best I can!

By the way, obedient and nit-picky fans, the second scene _is_ pretty much an exact copy of how it plays out in manga. I really found nothing else I could do with it, and it's an important scene, so I kept it like that.

If you find any typos or errors, or you just have a comment/critique, let me know!

I don't care about reviews, really. This is for me and me alone. It'd be nice if you all liked it, too, and let me know, though!

Death Note is © Tsugumi Ohba (+ the art is © Takeshi Obata.)


End file.
